HEOA Compliance

Impulse is committed to helping colleges and universities address the Higher Education Opportunity Act and P2P file sharing requirements. Beyond traditional NAC capabilities, SafeConnect includes a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing Module that notifies students of prohibited software, helps to educate them on the dangers associated with illegal downloading, and encourages legal online music procurement.

Complying with the Mandates of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA)

SafeConnect offers a comprehensive, technology-based deterrent and a 4-pronged approach that can help colleges and universities comply with HEOA mandates.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 was signed into law by President Bush in August 2008 and went into effect during the summer of 2009. This law contains three general requirements on controlling unauthorized file sharing at colleges and universities.

These requirements are:

Annual disclosure to students describing copyright laws and campus policies relating to violation of copyright laws

A written plan to effectively combat unauthorized distribution on their campus (including the use of technology-based deterrents)

Offer alternatives to illegal downloading

How SafeConnect Can Help Meet These Mandates

Inform the student community through presentation of Acceptable Use Policies (AUP). Students must agree to comply with AUP (including any policies on illegal P2P file sharing) as a condition of gaining access to the campus network.

Prohibit the use of illegal peer-to-peer file sharing programs on the network. Should students attempt to use specific P2P programs, SafeConnect can immediately block access in real time.

Educate students by offering legal alternatives with an automatic web-page that provides links to websites that provide legal alternatives.

Provide a record of the compliance taken that proves the university has taken appropriate measures. SafeConnect also can provide real-time and historical data that can be used to respond to any MPAA or RIAA violation notices that may be received by providing the school with the ability to correlate IP addresses and dates with the MAC address for the device and the associated user identity.

Enforcing Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Impulse is committed to helping schools address the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008’s (HEOA) Peer-to-Peer file sharing requirements. Beyond traditional BYOD or NAC capabilities, SafeConnect includes a P2P File Sharing Module that notifies students of prohibited software, helps to educate them on the dangers associated with illegal downloading, and encourages legal online music procurement.

It is important to meet the HEOA mandates since compliance is a condition for receiving student aid (Title IV).

Some penalties for not meeting the requirements could include:

Fines, criminal, and civil penalties for both institutions and individuals

Negative impact of public opinion from adverse media coverage of non-compliance

Loss of institutional participation in federal financial aid programs

For more background information on the HEOA and compliance by colleges and universities, please visit EDUCAUSE.

Dealing with DMCA Violation Notices

Beyond traditional NAC capabilities, SafeConnect includes a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing Module that notifies users of software prohibited by their school, helps to educate them on the dangers associated with illegal downloading, and encourages legal online music procurement.

SafeConnect also can provide real-time and historical data that can be used to respond to any DMCA, MPAA or RIAA violation notices that may be received by providing the school with the ability to correlate IP addresses and dates with the MAC address for the device and the associated user identity.